The University of Colorado Cancer Center (UCCC) is organized into 6 research programs, each headed by two co-leaders chosen from consortium institutions. The co-leadership structure was instituted in order to bring more scientifically and geographically comprehensive and complementary oversight and management to the programs. This has also nurtured growth of several internal research foci that have now emerged as potentially new individual research programs. The leadership of the programs is as follows: Robert Sclafani, PhD and Dennis Roop, PhD in Cancer Cell Biology; Al Marcus, PhD and Raj Agarwal, PhD in Cancer Prevention and Control; S. Gail Eckhardt, MD and Wells Messersmith, MD in Developmental Therapeutics; M. Scott Lucia, MD and Heide Ford, PhD in Hormone-related Malignancies; York E. Miller, MD and Xiao- Jing Wang, PhD in Lung, Head & Neck; and James DeGregori, PhD and Joaquin Espinosa, PhD in Molecular Oncology. These twelve exceptional leaders are experts in their respective fields, which include the basic, clinical, and population sciences. Each co-leader brings individual research strengths that complement those of his/her respective co-leader, and both share the management responsibilities of research program leadership. Program leaders serve on the Cancer Center's Governance Committee and on other specific management, operational, and ad hoc committees where their particular talents and expertise is valued and used in programmatic decisions. These UCCC responsibilities include review of shared resource performance and needs, input on recruitments, review of membership, evaluation of seminars, symposia and communications, and participation in planning and evaluation activities including program retreats and genesis of the Strategic Plan. The program co-leaders are responsible for the activities within their own programs that include: 1) educational activities; 2) new members and recruitments; 3) mentoring of junior faculty; 4) fostering collaborative and interdisciplinary research; 5) planning and evaluating new and existing shared resources and 6) preparing reports. The educational activities include seminars and symposia including the Center-wide symposia, retreats, poster sessions, training programs, and standard and special courses in the various schools and consortium institutions. All new members have their applications proceed through program leadership to understand the scope of the cancer research and foster new collaborations. Program leaders both mentor young member and also suggest appropriate senior members mentors and steer new members to pilot projects and other grant opportunities.